Widdershins
/ˈwɪdəʃɪnz/ adverb
"in a direction contrary to the sun's course, considered as unlucky; anticlockwise."
A Scottish term to be against THE WAY, in a direction contrary to the sun's course.
Origin
early 16th century: from Middle Low German _weddersins_, from Middle High German _widersinnes_, from _wider_ ‘against’ + _sin_ ‘direction’; the second element was associated with Scots _sin_ ‘sun’.
Widdershins (sometimes withershins, widershins or widderschynnes) is a term meaning to go counter-clockwise, anti-clockwise, or lefthandwise, or to walk around an object by always keeping it on the left.
Literally, it means to take a course opposite the apparent motion of the sun (as viewed from the Northern Hemisphere).
The use of the word also means "in a direction opposite to the usual" and "in a direction contrary to the apparent course of the sun". It is cognate with the German language widersinnig, i.e., "against" + "sense". The term "widdershins" was especially common in Lowland Scots.
The opposite of widdershins is deosil, or sunwise, meaning "clockwise".
Etymology
Widdershins comes from Middle Low German weddersinnes, literally "against the way" (i.e. "in the opposite direction"), from widersinnen "to go against", from Old High German elements widar "against" and sinnen "to travel, go", related to sind "journey".
Symbolism
To go against the sun was considered bad luck.
It was considered unlucky in Britain to travel in an anticlockwise (not sunwise) direction around a church, and a number of folk myths make reference to this superstition; for example, in the fairy tale Childe Rowland, the protagonist and his sister are transported to Elfland after the sister runs widdershins round a church.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches it is normal for processions around a church to travel in an anticlockwise direction, regardless of which hemisphere they are performed in.
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